Clearing another random DVD off of the Watch Pile. This time, it is Bluebeard, a 1944 Film that is sadly not a Pirate Film. If you don't know, the term comes from the name given to Men who date rich, older Women and then kill them. That's thankfully not a notable thing anymore, not that, you know, murder and all that doesn't still happen. It's also not *that* important to know here, since the Film is actually not about that. Why the Title? Dunno. They call him that for no clear reason, so let's just accept it. It was Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, who has a few notable Films on his Resume. For one, he did the 1934 'version' of The Black Cat (with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff), as well as other Films from this time. Its Star is John Carradine, who is thankfully in the good part of his Career and not the part where he's singing 'Night Train to Mundo Fine.' Good times. In the Film, Carradine is a killer who falls in love. Aw. Will he be able to stop himself? To find out, read on...
A random woman's body is found floating in the River Seine.
Don't worry- the Film isn't too French.
In fact, it's mostly just American with like 4 French guys in it.
There is a killer on the loose!
Thankfully, this Exposition Flyer is there to explain it all...and to take way too long to go away, since I guess people read slower back in the '40s.
I mean, it's obviously this guy.
The Film makes no mystery of this, so why should I?
Carradine's Character is a bit complicated to explain, so let me try...
- He's a Serial Killer.
- He's a Puppeteer
- He's also a Painter.
- He paints a portrait of a woman before he kills her.
All good?
He has an Art Dealer who sells said Paintings on the Black Market, but always wants more.
Of course, he knows how he gets them too AND he knows that they could be evidence...like when he sells it to a rich guy who displays it proudly.
It was the last victim. Oops.
The woman who happens to be falling for Carradine turns out to be the Sister of the Detective trying to solve the case.
What are the odds of that?!?
They set up a sting operation to catch Carradine, but he recognizes the woman from earlier and kills her!
His Dealer friend helps out by delaying the Police and escaping...until he's killed too in his next Scene.
Our Heroine eventually finds Carradine- as part of another Police Sting- and he says that he feels bad about, you know, killing her Sister.
Well, that's alright then....hey, wait a minute!!!!
He fights off the Police- since he suddenly can't kill a woman fast since she's the Main Character- fairly well...until he falls to his death.
The End.
A slow, but steady Film. The Plot is fairly-simple...at first. He's a killer, but he's also conflicted. Got it. Now he's a Puppeteer that falls in love- sure, alright. Now he's also a Painter who draws his victims before he kills them. Um...alright. Now there's an Art Dealer, who's separately-corrupt, a Detective, a rich guy, the Sister, a random Courtroom Scene with some Prostitutes, a Police Sting, an underground Phantom of the Opera-esque Tunnel and...did I miss anything? There's a bit much, no? The Puppeteer stuff also completely vanishes after the first 20 minutes (it just gets him with her), so what was the real point of it? Why couldn't he just be a Painter who tries to romance her? The Movie's not really that long by modern standards (70 minutes) and pretty much on par for its time. I guess they couldn't reach the proper length without that pointless Puppet Show version of Faust, eh? None of the seeming-filler is bad though. Ultimately, it's a Film that is all about letting you see the killer and somewhat understand him. That's something that would be more prevalent in later Decades, so kudos.
Bluebeard is a good, if 'of its time' Film (no on-screen killing, for instance). If you can't say one thing about it too, it sure is certified.
Next time, I dig deeper into the Random DVD Pile. Who knows what will come up next? Stay tuned...
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